$111k One Drop: No Money Yet; Martin Jacobson Leads Final 26

There was a bit of controversy at the end of the night in the $111,111 One Drop High Roller event as play ended with 26 players remaining -- but only 24 will get paid.

Most of the players were vocal about their desire to keep playing, but the WSOP staff stuck to their earlier announcement that unless they were on the actual Money Bubble (25 left), they'd stop for the night.

So two of these players will earn $0, while the other 24 will be guaranteed at least $173,723. And most of the eyes are on the first prize worth more than $4.8 million.

Here are the official end-of-day chip counts, with the blinds increasing to 30,000-60,000 with a 10,000 ante:

Last year's One Drop champion, Antonio Esfandiari, is still alive and fifth in chips. He would really distance himself from the rest of the poker world on the all-time money winners' list if he went back-to-back in One Drop High Rollers.

Follow-the-Chips: Phil Laak

Our Follow-the-Chips player, Phil Laak, had an inauspicious start on Day 2, oversleeping until his friend Antonio Esfandiari called him to wake him up after the tournament began.

So Laak arrived 30 minutes late.

Laak was having trouble building momentum, and spent most of the day on the bottom half of the leaderboard.

But Laak went on a rush after the dinner break in Level 18, building his stack from about 360,000 to more than 2.6 million.

Laak tapered off from that high point to finish 12th in chips with 1.76 million.

Day 3 Starts at 1:00 pm PT

The original goal was to crown a champion in this event on Day 3, but with 26 players remaining, that seems unlikely.

Regardless of what happens, action will resume on Friday at 1:00 pm PT, and the first order of business will be to burst the Money Bubble.

Return to PokerListings.com for continuing coverage as the remaining 26 players battle it out for a $4.8 million first prize.

Average Stack

1,915,385

Players Left

26

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Non-Bubble Bubble Report

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03:13, 28 June 2013, published 3 years ago

"What are bubble?"

Play slowed considerably after we got down to 27 players.

The official bubble and hand-for-hand wouldn't start until we hit 25 players, but there were inklings of bubble mentality.

Players were kneeling on their chairs and pacing around the room. There was a general, jovial attitude when cards were being shuffled, but things would go quiet when dealers announced an all-in.

Chips would stop riffling and players and media would swoop in on the table, hoping for another poker carcass.

Bubble Confusion

It was during that time that the floor grabbed the microphone and announced that we'd be playing one more level tonight, possibly.

"If we get down to 25 players, we'll keep going until we break the bubble," said tournament director Bob Smith.

"What?" Asked Antonio Esfandiari. "Why?"

The TD explained himself again but Esfandiari still didn't understand.

"Why 25? Why wouldn't we just end it?"

"'What's a bubble?'" Shaun Deeb said, impersonating Esfandiari from another table. "He just wants to know when he'll win this tournament."

There were several laughs but Esfandiari's confusion didn't subside.

After asking the tournament director a few more times, Bob Smith finally found an answer for Esfandiari.

"We hit the money at 24," Smith said. "We don't want one person to come back and have to bust outside of the money tomorrow."

Esfandiari nodded and we had an all-in.

Double Double, Animal Style

"I don't fare too well with races," Mike Sexton said.

Sexton was all-in with 9♠ 9♦ against Daniel Alaei's K♠ Q♣. The board came 6♠ 3♥ 5♦ 2♣ 5♣ and Sexton doubled up to about 1 million.

"You wouldn't want to bubble twice," Esfandiari said to Sexton. "That would be something huh, bubbling the One Drop twice."

"I made the money," Sexton said. "$1 million, just didn't make the TV table."

Once again, Esfandiari had some misunderstandings with the bubble. Last year, Sexton just made the money and finished 9th in the One Drop event for $1,109,333.

The only other player still in the field who cashed last year is Esfandiari himself.

After Sexton's double up, we had a few river saves.

Nick Schulman went all-in with A♣ J♥ against Hyong Chae's A♦ Q♠. The 7♥ 8♠ 3♣ 2♦ board was looking slim for Schulman, but then a J♣ came on the river to double him up to 1.8 million.

Then Jason Koon was at risk. Koon moved all-in and got called by the very vocal Bill Perkins.

Koon showed T♥ T♦ and Perkins turned over A♦ J♠. The flop came K♠ 9♣ Q♣ and an A♣ came on the turn.

Perkins started celebrating and screamed, "Leroy Jenkins," after a J♠ came on the river. Perkins celebrated while other players, the media and rail stared at him, waiting for him to realize that Koon doubled up.

"He hit the straight," somebody said.

"Oh man," Perkins said, grabbing his head with both hands.

"If I would've busted to anyone I'd want it to be you," Koon said to Perkins. "You're good for the game. Sure, $4 million would've been nice but you know, life's good either way."

Koon nonchalantly doubled up 1.2 million while Perkins still had 2.3 million.

Then Tony Gregg doubled up with kings against Haralabos Voulgaris queens.

Day 2 Ends

We finally got down to 26 players when Matt Glantz knocked out Hyoung Chae. Chae had kings and Glantz turned over ace-jack. Glantz hit an ace on the river and we were down to 26.

The tournament ticked into the next level and play stopped. WSOP staff called Jack Effel and the big man said to bag and tag for the night.

The bubble won't burst quite yet so come back for coverage from Day 3 of the One Drop.

Average Stack

1,915,385

Players Left

26

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Vivek Out in 29th; Phil Laak Still Strong

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01:39, 28 June 2013, published 3 years ago

Vivek Rajkumar had the table chip lead at the dinner break.

When the field returned from the last break of the day, our Follow-the-Chips player, Phil Laak, was sixth on the leaderboard with 2.64 million in chips.

That was a major turnaround from the level before, when Laak was in shove-or-fold mode with just 360,000.

There wasn't much change for Laak this level, as he only played three out of 24 hands at his table, investing less than three big blinds each time.

Vivek Rajkumar Eliminated by Haralabos Voulgaris

Vivek Rajkumar wasn't quite so lucky. He was the table chipleader not that long ago, but the times have changed.

Rajkumar raised big from UTG+1, putting most of his chips into the pot but technically not all in. Haralabos Voulgaris reraised from the button, and Rajkumar called with A♣ 7♣.

Voulgaris turned over 8♦ 8♠, and Rajkumar would need to improve to stay alive.

The board came K♦ K♥ 8♣ 4♥ 9♥, and Voulgaris flopped a full house, eights full of kings, to eliminate Rajkumar in 29th place.

Haralabos Voulgaris - 1,800,000 (36 bb) Vivek Rajkumar - Eliminated

No More World Champions

While this has been a field packed with talent, it's interesting to note that there are no WSOP Main Event champions remaining in the field.

Not even if you count WSOP-APAC or WSOP Europe, though Daniel Negreanu and John Juanda did make it pretty deep today.

In fact, there is only one player left in the field who has even made it to the final table of the WSOP Main Event -- Jeremy Ausmus, who finished fifth last year.

Two other players still alive in the field got close to that Main Event final table. Brandon Steven bubbled in 10th place in 2010, and Mike Sexton finished 12th back in 2000.

Updated Leaderboard

With 28 players remaining, the Money Bubble will begin when three more players bust. Here's a look at the leaderboard, courtesy of WSOP.com:

Laak was behind, but the J♠ 9♣ 2♣ flop but him in the lead. The 8♦ came on the turn and then the river brought a J♥ to give Laak trips and the double up.

Armed with a stack of about 680,000, Laak had some more space to maneuver.

Laak took down the blinds and antes by raising to 64,000 from early position and then won another big pot.

Laak Takes One Out

Daniel Negreanu was on the hijack and Laak was on the cutoff. The two got it all-in preflop and Negreanu turned over A♣ K♣ to Laak's 9♠ 9♣.

Players were almost even in chips and were flipping for One Drop livelihood. The board ran T♠ 8♥ 6♠ T♣ 4♣ and the dealer started counting out Laak's stack.

Daniel Negreanu, One Drop dropout.

"I'm out," Negreanu said when the dealer reached the 600,000 mark.

Negreanu was already out the door and roaming down the secret passages of the Rio while Laak was still racking up his chips.

In just under 20 minutes, Laak went from about 360,000 to 1.35 million.

Then he doubled up again.

Laak Hits Again

Andrew Lichtenberger raised from the hijack to 65,000 and was called by Laak on the button and Jason Mo in the big blind.

The flop came 7♦ 6♠ 3♥ and Mo and Lichtenberger checked. Laak tossed out 155,000 and only Mo came along.

Mo checked the 9♠ turn. Laak made a motion to ask the dealer to spread the pot before putting in a healthy bet of 456,000.

Mo moved all-in for a little over a min-raise and Laak snap called saying, “I have the nuts.”

He turned over T♦ 8♦ for the turned straight. Mo had flopped a straight with 5♠ 4♠ but was now looking for a spade.

The T♣ was no good for Mo and he was chipped down to 250,000 while Laak has moved in third place on the leaderboard with 2,667,000.

Average Stack

1,606,452

Players Left

31

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Gus Hansen Busts; Phil Laak Short

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23:20, 27 June 2013, published 3 years ago

King-queen was no good for Gus Hansen.

When the field returned from dinner in Event #47 ($111,111 One Drop High Roller), there were 48 players remaining, but only 24 of them would get paid.

Would four one-hour levels this evening be enough to burst the Money Bubble? The math suggests that it'll happen, but with $173,723 separating 24th place from 25th, the field will likely tighten up considerably.

Haralabos and Lucky Chewy Take Gus Hansen's Chips

In the fourth hand after the dinner break, Haralabos Voulgaris raised from middle position, Gus Hansen called from the button, and Vivek Rajkumar called from the big blind.

The flop came Q♥ 8♣ 3♥, Rajkumar checked, Voulgaris bet 78,000, and Hansen raised to 182,000. Rajkumar folded, and Voulgaris moved all in for 645,000.

Hansen asked for an exact count and tanked for a while before he called with K♦ Q♣ for a pair of queens. But Voulgaris turned over A♦ A♥ for an overpair.

The turn was the 3♠, the river was the 6♠, and the pocket aces held up for Voulgaris to win the pot and double up in chips -- nearly crippling Hansen in the process.

Haralabos Voulgaris - 1,200,000 (50 bb) Gus Hansen - 250,000 (10 bb)

The next hand, Daniel Negreanu raised from middle position, and Phil Laak moved all in from the hijack. Negreanu folded K♣ Q♠ face up, and Hansen said, "You saw how much I lost with it?"

About 10 hands later, Hansen got it all in preflop from the hijack with A♣ 4♠ against Andrew Lichtenberger in the big blind with K♥ 10♦.

The board came 8♠ 8♣ 5♣ 2♦ K♦, and Lichtenberger paired his king on the river to win the pot and send Gus Hansen to the rail.

Gus Hansen - Eliminated

It's make-or-break time for Phil Laak.

After Dinner on Day 2 Is No Time For a Starting Stack

This tournament is deepstacked, but not so deepstacked that you can cruise comfortably into Day 3 with a starting stack.

And that brings us to our Follow-the-Chips player, Phil Laak.

Laak returned from the dinner break with about 570,000 in chips, but he lost a few pots to drop down to about 360,000 (12 big blinds).

Keep in mind that everyone in the tournament started with 300,000 in chips, but it's certainly not worth what it used to be.

Laak has been keeping an eye on the tournament clock, but there's no denying that he's in shoving range and doesn't have enough chips to limp into the money. It'll be go time for Laak soon.

Updated Look at the Leaderboard

With 43 players remaining, the blinds increase to 15,000-30,000 and a 5,000 ante. Here's a look at the leaderboard, courtesy of WSOP.com:

Laak Treads Water; Hansen Makes Waves

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21:17, 27 June 2013, published 3 years ago

Floor!

Players are now on the second dinner break of the One Drop.

While 166 players started this splendid little tournament, only 50 remain. Leading them most of the day was Brandon Steven. Steven was charging through the field but was caught by Martin Finger at the end of the level.

That difference is slightly more than what our Follow-the-Chips player, Phil Laak, currently has.

Staying Even

Laak had some more preflop action and even went all-in. Nobody called though.

In the first hand, Laak called a 45,000 raise from the big blind. The flop came 8♦ 6♥ Q♦ and both players checked. The initial raiser bet 55,000 when the K♣ came on the turn and Laak folded.

A few hands later, Andrew Lichtenberger raised to 45,000 from early position and Laak moved all-in for about 360,000 from the cutoff. Lichtenberger thought for a few minutes but eventually folded.

Juanda Out

John Juanda will not win the One Drop.

Vivek Rajkumar raised from the button and Juanda moved all-in from the small blind. Lichtenberger was in the big blind and reshoved. Rajkumar folded and we had a showdown.

Juanda: K♦ 7♠

Lichtenberger: A♥ K♣

The board came J♠ T♠ Q♠ 4♦ J♦ and Juanda was out of the tournament.

Hansen Gets Involved

Gus Hansen became involved in a few interesting hands late in the level. The first one resulted in nothing but a rule clarification.

With Laak under the gun, Hansen fired out a 51,000 before Laak even checked his cards. There was much discussion before the floor was called.

After trying to get the floor to look at his cards and telling players he had a real hand, Laak folded and nothing big became of it.

“We know you had 8-3 off or something,” Haralabos Voulgaris said, “you were wasting our time because you were going to fold.”

Just a few hands later and the action folded around to Hansen in the small blind. He put in a big stack of 25k chips. Enough to put Fabian Quoss all-in.

Quoss thought for a while before calling off his tournament life with Q♠ 6♠ against Hansen’s Q♥ J♦.

The J♣ 3♣ 2♥ gave Hansen a stronger hold on the hand, Quoss picked up a gutshot with the 5♥ turn, but it ended with a blank 8♠.

Dinner Time

Official chip counts are coming in from WSOP during the dinner break and we have a new chipleader in Martin Finger.

Laak Dips; Snacks and Chips

While players are steadily dropping out of the tournament, Phil Laak is going up and down.

In our last update, Laak stole some blinds and won a few small pots to chip up to 575,000. The next level he lost a few pots and finished with 460,000.

It wasn't a big loss and Laak even won a few pots preflop. Laak took down the blinds and antes twice with a preflop raise but got three-bet for a loss a few times.

With 6,000/12,000 blinds and a 2,000 ante, Laak raised to 36,000 and Andrew Lichtenberger re-raised to 132,000 from the big blind. Action was back on Laak, who thought for a while.

Laak eventually folded and lost a similar pot when he was on the button.

Laak raised to 24,000 from the button and small blind re-raised to 100,000. Action folded back to Laak who quickly folded.

Laak did see a flop though.

Later in the level, Laak raised to 40,000 from under the gun and Daniel Negreanu called from the big blind. The flop came J♣ A♣ 9♣ and Laak led out for 14,000. Negreanu folded and Laak took down the pot.

Despite winning that wee pot, the blinds and antes took a toll on Laak bringing him down to 460,000 by the end of the level.

No snacks for you.

Break and Chips

When the clock hit the second break of the day, only 67 players were left.

Several of them had millions of chips but some other chips were noticably absent.

There are no longer any snacks available for players in the One Drop.

Yesterday, the Blue Section of the Amazon Room was littered with snacks for the players.

There were Twix, Snickers, Lays, bananas, glazed nuts, Snickers Marathon Bars and several other edibles for players.

Now they're gone.

They were carted out last night and there are reports of glazed nuts and a lonely bowl of dried fruit in the Rio back alleys.

$111,111 only gets you one day of snacks.

High roller.

Leading

There are confirmed reports of chip leaders in the One Drop. Brandon Steven continued to chip up and is the first player to cross the 2 million mark. Shaun Deeb also vaulted to the top of the chip counts page along with Ben Lamb, Jason Koon and Andrew Robl.

According to WSOP.com, the top 10 counts are:

1. Brandon Steven - 2,135,000

2. Shaun Deeb - 1,759,000

3. Andrew Robl - 1,655,000

4. Ben Lamb - 1,650,000

5. Jason Koon - 1,525,000

6. Jason Mo - 1,450,000

7. Jason Senti - 1,376,000

8. Nick Schulman - 1,300,000

9. Olivier Busquet - 1,175,000

10. Steve Gross - 1,170,000

Average Stack

743,284

Players Left

67

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Brandon Steven Continues His Run-Good on Day 2

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17:58, 27 June 2013, published 3 years ago

Brandon Steven is ready to atone for bubbling the Nov 9.

Brandon Steven was the big stack at the end of Day 1, and hasn't slowed down here on Day 2 as he has built up a stack of 1.77 million to retain the lead.

Last year's One Drop champion, Antonio Esfandiari, is still on the leaderboard with an even million in chips. It would be pretty epic (no, not that Epic) if Esfandiari could win the One Drop high-roller event two years in a row.

Phil Laak Slowly Climbing

Our Follow-the-Chips player, Phil Laak, is still on the main stage with Daniel Negreanu, Andrew Lichtenberger, Vivek Rajkumar, and Haralabos Voulgaris.

Laak has loosened up a bit, playing seven of the last 23 hands. During this period, aggression has been paying off for him.

After Laak came in from the hijack with a standard raise, Fabian Quoss reraised him from the button. Laak paused for a moment before four-betting it large, and Quoss quickly folded.

Another pass of the button later, and Negreanu came in with a raise from the hijack. Laak reraised him big from the cutoff, and Negreanu quickly folded. Another preflop pot awarded to Laak.

It wasn't much, but combined with a few blind steals, Laak built his stack up from 550,000 to 575,000. Steady progress.

Phil Laak - 575,000 (47 bb)

Updated Look at the Leaderboard

With 80 players remaining in the field, only the top 24 will finish in the money. Here's a look at the unofficial leaderboard, courtesy of WSOP.com:

Laak Starts Slow; Players Drop Fast

Level 12 featured 4,000/8,000 blinds with a 1,000 ante and Laak spent the first part of it enjoying a freshly-delivered meal.

Laak also had a phone call while he was seated at the feature table. He picked it up and quietly talked into it while a hand was playing it.

He did play some poker though.

But not much.

Most of the level consisted of a preflop raise and folds all around. In one of those hands, Laak raised to 20,000 from the button and Fabian Quoss called from the big blind.

The flop came K♥ K♠ 7♣ and both players checked. The turn was a 3♣ and there was another round of checks. Players checked one more time on the river and Laak showed A♠ Q♥ to take down the pot.

Laak's stack didn't deviate too much and he finished the level 355,000. While Laak still has 44 big blinds, he's a bit below the average stack of 585,883.

There was a bit more action going on at Laak's table though.

Toby Lewis Coolered by Lucky Chewy

With about 20 minutes left before the break, Andrew Lichtenberger (button) and Toby Lewis (small blind) saw a flop of 10♣ 8♥ 2♣.

Lewis got it all in for about 150,000 with A♠ 8♠ (pair of eights), but Lichtenberger had him dominated with A♥ 10♠ (pair of tens).

The turn was the K♥, the river was the 6♠, and Lichtenberger won the pot with his pair of tens to eliminate Lewis from the tournament.

Andrew Lichtenberger - 635,000 (79 bb)

Toby Lewis - Eliminated

A short while later, Haralabos Voulgaris arrived with about 415,000 to fill the empty seat.

As Daniel Negreanu welcomed him to the table, Voulgaris said, "This is my fourth table today." That's an impressive feat for a tournament day that's less than two hours hold.

The Bad Beat Walk of the Day

Shortly after the elimination of Toby Lewis, Patrick Madden received a walk in the big blind, but he wasn't pleased -- he turned over A♦ A♥, but got no action.

Negreanu laughed and said that he folded queen-nine of spades on the button, and Madden was a little dumbfounded. Negreanu told Madden that he just had a bad feeling and let it go rather than raise.

After about a minute of teasing, Negreanu admitted to Madden that he actually had a garbage hand like five-deuce, and had no thoughts about playing it.

Several Drops

Players have been dropping out of the One Drop quickly today.

We played 10 levels yesterday but only lost 58 players. Play's been going on for only two levels today and we've already lost 23 players. While Laak has been taking it slow at the beginning of the day, others have had a bit more action:

Managed to get folds on all 6 of my opens in the first 75 mins to maintain my stack at 169k and then just doubled AJs vs 77. 350k #peakingyo

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